Parcel-strap.



package.

are. 734,934.

UNITED STATES Patented July 28, 1903.

PATENT ()FFICE PARCEL-STRAP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 734,934, dated July 28, 1903. Application filed March 4, 1903. Serial No. 146,147. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

'Beit known that I, ETHANB. PALMER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Parcel-Straps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to means for securing and carrying packages or bundles, and more particularly to straps for such purposes. In the use of straps for such purposes, especially for packages of books or of other articles where several are to be secured together, difficulty has been experienced where a single strap was used in preventing the displacement of the articles in a direction at right anglesto the strap. \Vhere two straps were used encircling the package at right angles to each other, the need of some means for securing the straps at their crossing-point has always been evident. A further difficulty has been experienced in carrying a strapped package owing to the difficulty experienced in inserting the fingers between the strap and This last difficulty has led to the use of handles of various kinds to be attached either to the strap or the package, thereby involving an increased expense'in the manufacture of the strap and handle and increased trouble in adjusting the strap and afterward adjusting the handle.

The object of this invention is to provide a strap for securing and carrying the packages in which two pieces are used crossing each other at right angles and a portion of one of said pieces arranged to form a handle by which to carry the package.

/Vith this object in view theinvention consists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of the parts of a package-strap, which will be hereinafter fully described, and afterward specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated an embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 represents in perspective view a package of books bound together by means of a strap constructed in accordance with my invention with a portion of the strap in position for useas a handle. Fig. 2 represents in perspective view the strap removed from the package with the handle portion unfastened. Fig. 3 represents in perspective View the reverse side of the crossing of the longitudinal and transverse straps and the washer thereon. I

Like letters of reference mark the same parts in all of the figures.

' Referring to the drawings by letters, a indicates a strap, which for the purpose of distinguishing it I shall denominate the longitudinal strap, and b a second or transverse strap, each of which is provided at one end with a suitable buckle, as at c d, by means of which the ends may be secured together in a well-known manner. I As indicated by their names, the longitudinal strap a is intended to be passed around a packageas, for instance, of books e-in a longitudinal direction and the strap 1) at right angles thereto or in a transverse direction, the two straps crossing each other at the top and bottom of the package. The straps, especially when used for a number of packages of substantially the same form and size, may be rigidly secured together at one of their crossing-points; but where the complete. strap is to be used upon packages of varying sizes and forms it is advisable that they be secured together at one of their cross- I ing-points by some means which will permit of the ready adjustment lengthwise of either strap or their relative crossing position, but which at the same time will prevent accidental displacement of the strap with any ordinary usage. For this purpose I have provided a washer f, provided with parallel slits, or it may be slots g g, at a distance apart substantially equal to the width of one of the straps, which washer is laid upon one strap, as a, with the slots or slits parallel with the sides thereof, and the other strap, as b, is passed first through one slit, then under the strap a at right angles thereto, and then up through the other slit, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Constructed and arranged as thus far described the two straps may be secured upon a package or bundle of any size within the limits of the length of the strap and the cross- IPO ing-point adjusted to any particularly-desired position and there secured against displacement or slipping of the straps by any strain which may be brought upon them in ordinary use. It is very desirable, however, that a handle be provided by which to carry the strapped package or bundle, and for this purpose I secure upon one of the straps, in this instance upon the strap a, a buckle h of any desirable form or construction, preferably of the same form and construction as the end buckle 0, through which the end a of said strap a may be passed sufficiently far to leave enough of said strap a between the buckles c and h to form a handle which may be readily grasped by the hand, when said end a may be secured in the buckle in the usual manner.

By the means hereinbefore described a package may be securely fastened together in two directions by crossing-straps, the straps held against accidental displacement on the package or on each other and a suitable handle for carrying the package formed of the end of one of the straps. No extra attachments in the shape of pieces of metal or loops are required to firmly hold the straps in position upon the package, no extra handle is required which will be liable to be lost or misplaced, and while the construction fully meets all the requirements of a device of its nature in the most effective and permanent manner it is exceedingly simple in construction and can be manufactured at the lowest possible cost.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A package-strap provided with a buckle at one end through which the opposite end may be passed and in which it may be secured, and having a second buckle secured at asuitable distance from the end buckle to receive the outer end of that portion of the strap passed through the end buckle, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A package-securing strap consisting of two straps or parts crossing each other at right angles in combination with a washer placed upon one strap and provided with slots or slits parallel to the edges of the strap upon which it is placed, the other strap being passed through one slot, around the firstnamed strap and back through the; second slot, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described package-carrier comprising a longitudinal strap having an end buckle, a transverse strap slidably secured at right angles with the longitudinal strap, a buckle upon the longitudinal strap at a distance from its end buckle, and a handle formed by securing in the last-named buckle the end of that portion of the longitudinal strap which has been passed through the end buckle, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ETHAN B. PALMER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES A. SOURS, FRANK G. SAYRE. 

